Her Hair
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Ragetti thinks back about his mom


She was dead tired by the time she got home to the one room shack at the far end of town.

Being a prostitute in Tortuga was very tiring work. Almost as tiring as being a bartender at one of the many pubs there.

With a soft sigh Eliza let down her chestnut colored hair and was about to relax when she heard her son crying softly under their thin heap of tattered blankets that made up their shared bed.

Eliza slowly sat down beside the heap of blankets that were sniffling magically and she gently placed a hand where she knew her son's head was.

"Mackenzie? Mackenzie, what's the matter, love?" she asked, her voice soft and almost musical sounding.

A long time ago, Eliza had been a young noblewoman living in London, but then she had fallen in love with a rogue named Leonardo Ragetti and she had been disowned by her father and soon abandoned by her so-called love in Tortuga once she became pregnant with his son.

It was because of this that she was able to make ends meet as best as she could; because she was clean and spoke better than most of the whores there.

"Nuffin'." A boy's soft voice said. Eliza smiled despite herself and she took out the small money pouch filled with her earnings and she made the coins jingle happily.

"Look at how much money I've made tonight!" she tried.

The sniffles stopped but still her son refused to leave his hiding spot.

Eliza thought for a moment before an idea came to her. With a sly smile she suddenly reached under the blankets and she started to tickle her son's thin sides.

"Raggedy Ragetti!" she laughed as her son laughed and kicked out.

Eliza looked down at her son with a sad smile.

He was a very thin and frail child, and he would often come home with bruises and cuts dealt to him by the other boys for being this way. His hair was the same white gold color as his father's had been, but his eyes were the same shade of blue as his mother's.

On his left cheek he bore a newly acquired bruise and Eliza sighed as she gently touched it, causing her son to flinch slightly.

"Who gave this to you, love?" she asked.

"I fell…"

"Mackenzie…"

He was silent, looking down at the ground and watching as a roach walked idly past them.

"Mama…ar' we goin' ta 'ell?" he asked softly, refusing to look up. Eliza frowned and looked down at her son in worry.

"Who told you this?" Mackenzie rubbed his nose on his sleeve and he sniffled softly.

"Father Chris…" he admitted softly. "'e said tha' sons o' whores go ta' 'ell wif 'em…" He looked up at his mother worriedly then, his eyes wide in fear.

"I don' wan' ye ta go ta 'ell, mama!" he announced, his eyes starting to overflow with tears again before he then hugged onto her tightly, burying his face into her soft dress.

Eliza closed her eyes for a moment and she held her son tightly, running her fingers through his hair as she tried to think of what she could tell him to try and make him feel better.

"Father Chris does not know what he is talking about." She assured him gently. "Of course we're not going to Hell!"

Slowly Mackenzie pulled back and he looked up at her hopefully.

"But…He said…"

"As long as you try to be a good person then you will go to Heaven." She said softly, smiling at him as she fixed his hair, placing a hand on his cheek.

"So…You get credit for trying?" he asked meekly. Eliza laughed softly and she nodded her head, kissing the top of his head.

"Exactly!"

Mackenzie smiled and his face seemed to brighten up at this idea.

"I love ye, mama!" he said, kissing her on the cheek.

"I love you too, Raggedy Ragetti!"

The next day, Eliza would be found stabbed to death in a dark alley.

"What are you looking at?"

Ragetti blinked and he looked around in confusion for a moment, not knowing where he was for a moment until it finally hit him.

He was on the Black Pearl, swabbing the deck as they sailed on to look for captain Jack.

Elizabeth was looking at him in confusion and his cheeks burned with embarrassment as he realized that he had been staring at her.

"M'sorry." He mumbled, looking down at the ground as he went back to mopping.

Elizabeth tilted her head to one side and cocked an eyebrow, unsure what had just happened.

Pintel walked up to Ragetti then and he put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wot's the matta' wi' ye, Rags?" he asked with concern. Ragetti shrugged and he looked over his shoulder for a moment.

"Poppet's 'air…"

"Aye?"

"Et's loik me mum's." he said simply and he left a confused Pintel behind as he went back to his mopping.


End file.
